See:
http://blockchain.info/poolsThe "Unknown" miner had 9% last week, 11% a couple days ago, and 13% now. Even just 1% of the network is a huuuuge jump in hashrate.
To give a comparison, ASICminer has 19% of the share of the network and they actually are a corporation that reinvests their profits into making their own miners (a sure formula for insane growth).
Could this be a government attempting to destroy Bitcoin by dumping a few million into making their own ASICs? Or possibly a private actor trying to gain total control over BTC?
The rapid growth of this unknown miner is very concerning.
That is a bit disturbing. I'm fairly new to Bitcoin but from what I understand, there is currently no real network protection against a 51% takeover. While I realize that 13% is a long way from 51% it does raise questions. What has the community discussed about the vulnerability? I'm not a techie so I have zero advice, but this strikes me as an impetus to seriously look at the infrastructure. Thanks for posting, BTW.